the prince’s tent. Two guards blocked my way, but with a flick of my wrist, I sent them spiraling into the air. They landed with a thud as I burst through the tent, letting my anger rage.
Prince Xander was sitting on his chair in front of his empty table, waiting for dinner.
“How dare you send your dogs to destroy my tent and my belongings,” I roared.
His face blanched and his mouth dropped open in shock. He must not have known what had transpired. “I gave no such order to destroy—”
“You send the camp into an uproar searching for a servant—one you gave to me, mind you—and when I refuse to give her back to you, you have your guards destroy my property.” I was so angry my hands were shaking. “How dare you treat me so! I am not a fugitive, slave nor servant, but your wife.”
The guards came into the tent, but Xander held his hand up and motioned for them to go back outside. Then he launched to his feet, storming to meet me in the middle of the room, his face contorted into a cruel smile. “In name only, or did you forget? The title means nothing, you mean nothing, and it will not grant you power or any favors.”
“So I’ve been told. It seems you care more for pretty servant girls than you do your honor,” I snapped. “How does it look to your people and country that on this hunting trip, you not only bring along your ex fiancée but continually seek the company of other women?”
“That is none of your concern,” he growled, and gripped my shoulder tightly.
I did not like the way he touched me. With a flick of my wrist, a powerful burst of air flung him across the room to land in a heap on his bed.
“Oomph!” he cried out.
“And as for granting me power,” I continued, “I don’t need any, for I have my own.”
Opening my hands wide, I closed my eyes and muttered, “Fiegro.”
The candles turned into a blazing inferno, illuminating the tent. Xander sat up in the bed, his arms covering his eyes.
“If you want the girl so much, you will have to get through me,” I threatened. In a final tantrum, I snapped my fingers and made the bed fall apart. He landed on the floor, the frame collapsing around him. If I couldn’t have a bed, then neither could he.
In a flurry of black veil and skirts, I left the tent, passing the guards. With my departure, the candles extinguished, leaving the prince in darkness. My grin spread ear to ear as I headed back to my tent, but not before walking by a group of nobles that had gathered. My show of power, flinging the guards and illuminating his tent, had earned me quite a crowd of onlookers.
As I passed, I heard the more discriminatory terms thrown my way.
“Witch.”
“Darkling.”
“Evil incarnate.”
With every insult, my heart ached, and I began to understand why my mother embraced her pain and cursed the seven kingdoms. If it were the other way around, I may have done the exact same thing in her shoes.
A cough had me turning toward a deep red tent, and I saw Earlsgaarde outside studying me. Looking back toward the prince’s tent, he gave me a knowing grin that made me shudder. I had briefly forgotten he was traveling with us. It seemed he was for the most part running between the trackers and our camp relaying messages. He coughed again and might have tried to beckon me over to gossip, but I had no desire to trade small talk.
I headed to my carriage and sighed. It would have to do for our beds tonight. Each of us could take a bench seat.
Pru made herself useful, bringing in what she salvaged out of the blankets and pillows. Her pillow was ripped, and loose feathers kept floating around the carriage. My blanket was too short and wouldn’t cover my body, but curled on my side on the bench, it would do for a night.
We had just settled in when I heard the door open and shut, followed by loud chewing. I looked over the bench in horror to see that Gobbersnot had indeed found something worth eating—a deer’s foot, probably stolen under the cook’s nose. Being very careful, I wrestled the leg from Gobber and tossed it outside of the carriage. I didn’t get the door closed fast enough, however, and following a growl, he was out